1. Technical Field
The present invention is related to adoptive immunotherapy as a treatment modality of certain disease types in humans. More particularly, the present invention is related to a method of treating cancers and other immune dysfunction diseases or conditions in humans using lymphokine activated killer cells in conjunction with the administration of interleukin-2.
2. State of the Art
Attempts have been made during the past two decades to develop immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer based on stimulating the host immune response to the tumor. These approaches were based on attempts to immunize against specific tumor cells or with nonspecific stimulants in the hope that general immune stimulation would concomitantly increase the host anti-tumor response. Some experimental evidence indicated that this approach might be feasible in the therapy of established tumors. However, the inability to stimulate sufficiently strong responses to putative tumor antigens and the general immunoincompetence of the tumor bearing host, were factors that argued against the success of this approach. In fact initial clinical attempts were unsuccessful and were largely abandoned.
An alternative therapeutic approach to the immunologic treatment of cancer is that of the adoptive transfer of immune cells. Adoptive immunotherapy is defined as the transfer to the tumor-bearing host of active immunologic reagents, such as cells with antitumor reactivity that can mediate, either directly or indirectly, antitumor effects. Adoptive immunotherapy represents an attractive approach to the therapy of cancer and other conditions related to immune-dysfunction. It should be noted that because active immunologic reagents are being transferred to the host, complete host immunocompetence is not required. Thus, the immunosuppression generally associated with the tumor bearing state does not represent a major problem to this therapeutic alternative. Since host immunocompetence is not required, and in fact may be beneficial to the effects of the adoptive transfer of immune cells, adoptive immunotherapy can be easily combined with other therapies such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Since the transferred reagents are immunologically specific, this treatment modality predicts a high degree of specificity and consequently a low morbidity. Further, in contrast to most other therapies, no immunosuppression is likely to result from this treatment.
Virtually all prior attempts to perform adoptive immunotherapy have utilized animal models. The feasibility and efficacy of adoptive immunotherapy as a treatment modality for the correction or control of diseases, particularly cancers and immune dysfunction diseases in humans, has not heretofore been demonstrated. A review of previous attempts to perform adoptive immunotherapy of cancer in animals and humans can be found in Rosenberg et al., 1977 Adv. Cancer. Res. 25:323-388.